Harvesting peatland black spruce: Impacts on advance growth and site disturbance

A project was established in the Lake Abitibi Model Forest to study the effects of several harvesting systems on advance growth protection and site disturbance. Tree-length and cut-to-length harvesting systems were compared to a full-tree system on peatland black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) sites. The impacts of the various harvesting systems were compared by summarizing the structural and mensurational properties of the stands before and after harvest, by evaluating damage to residual trees, and by assessing site disturbance. The tree-length and full-tree systems, which were compared in winter harvesting, produced similar results. The cut-to-length system was compared to the full-tree system in both winter and summer harvesting, and protected substantially more advance growth, especially in the summer. Additionally, the cut-to-length system produced less damage to residual trees and lesser amounts of site disturbance. All harvesting systems resulted in or maintained residual stands with an uneven-size structure. Key words: black spruce, advanced regweneration, tree harvesting, systems